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Of increasing popularity are various types of cooking devices designed to isolate grease and other liquids released from food during the cooking process. Typical of these types of cooking devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,606,905 issued to Boehm and Johnson on Mar. 4, 1997, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,016,741 issued to Tsai and Hu on Jan. 25, 2000. In each of these cooking devices, the food is placed in a cooking chamber having at least one lower portion thereof. As the food is being cooked, there is a continuous flow of hot grease and other liquids released from the food to said lower portion of the cooking chamber. The grease and other liquids exit the cooking chamber through a grease discharge area and must then be collected and stored until the cooking process is completed.
To collect and store the grease and other liquids during the cooking process, both the Boehm/Johnson cooking device and the Tsai/Hu cooking device disclose a simple tray having an open top and being of slight dimensions. In practice, said tray is positioned below the grease discharge area located at the lower end of the cooking chamber such that the grease and other liquids, while still hot, continuously flow out of the cooking chamber through the grease discharge area and drop into the open tray. As more grease and other liquids are released from the food and flow out of the cooking chamber into said tray, the temperature of the grease and other liquids thereby collected is maintained at a high and dangerous level. It is therefore a disadvantage of these cooking devices that the slight dimensions and the open top of said tray makes it possible for the hot grease and other liquids to overflow, spill or splatter in an uncontrolled manner in the event, for example, that excessive amounts of grease or other liquids should be released from the food, that the tray or its surrounding means of support are bumped, jarred, or otherwise disturbed or some outside foreign object is dropped or otherwise introduced into said tray thereby causing potential injury to the operator or other bystander and increasing the amount of cleanup necessary after the use of the cooking device. It is a further disadvantage of these cooking devices that, once the tray has become full or the cooking process is ended, the operator must carefully remove and balance said tray during transit to the place where said tray is to be emptied of said grease and other liquids in order to avoid introducing any type of wave action to the grease and other liquids thereby increasing the possibility of spillage or injury.
It is an object of this present invention to provide a safe, effective and convenient means for collecting and storing grease and other liquids released from food by those cooking devices designed to discharge said grease and other liquids through a grease discharge area during the cooking process.
It is a further object of this present invention to provide a safe, effective and convenient means for transporting the grease and other liquids which have been collected and stored during the cooking process to a place where said grease and other liquids may be disposed of.
These and other objects of the invention are accomplished by providing a grease collection system having a top member, a slot located in said top member, a plurality of support means and a grease collection tray. The top member preferably has sufficient dimensions and strength to support a cooking device of the type heretofore described. The slot is positioned in said top member such that said slot is disposed directly below the grease discharge area of the cooking device. In addition, the slot has sufficient dimensions to allow all grease and other liquids discharged from the cooking device to pass freely therethrough.
The plurality of support means engage the top member such that sufficient clearance is created thereunder for the grease collection tray to be slidably positioned below said top member as hereinafter described. Preferably, the plurality of support means include walls such that the area below said top member has enclosed sides to prevent the uncontrolled spill or splatter of hot grease and other liquids collected and stored during the cooking process thereby increasing the safety of the present invention. However, those skilled in the art will recognize that legs or other support means may be utilized to provide sufficient clearance for the grease collection tray as heretofore described.
During the cooking process, the grease collection tray is vertically disposed below the slot in said top member and thereafter is slidably removed from below said top member for transit to the place where said grease collection tray is to be emptied. The grease collection tray has sufficient dimensions to collect all grease and other liquids dropping through said slot and, further, to provide sufficient storage capacity for said grease and other liquids released from food during a typical cooking cycle such to prevent overflow and spillage during the cooking process and subsequent transit of said grease collection tray.
In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, a grease collection tray drawer is further provided, said drawer being dimensioned such to removably receive said grease collection tray. In practice, when the cooking cycle has been completed, the operator removes the drawer with the grease collection tray contained therein thereby preventing direct contact with the grease collection tray and increasing operator safety. Once the grease collection tray is sufficiently cool, said grease collection tray is removed from said drawer and may then be emptied and cleaned.
An alternative design of the present invention includes grease directing means positioned on the top member adjacent to and along the perimeter of the slot. Said grease directing means has a generally downward sloped inner side such that said grease and other liquids dropping from the grease discharge area of the cooking device are thereby directed into said slot. A further alternative design of the present invention includes means for locating and engaging the cooking device such that said cooking device is held in a fixed position with the grease discharge area directly above the slot. A yet further alternative design of the present invention includes a utensil tray for receiving and holding soiled utensils used during the cooking process, said utensil tray being removably mounted in the top member adjacent to the position of the cooking device. A yet further alternative design of the present invention includes a bottom member fixably mounted below the support means of said top member thereby providing a secure base for the grease collection tray or grease collection tray and drawer combination and providing a further enclosed area for the grease collection tray to prevent the uncontrolled spill or splatter of hot grease and other liquids collected and stored during the cooking process. A yet further alternative design of the present invention includes a plurality of electric receptacles with or without an on/off switch to provide a convenient means of supplying power to the cooking device and other appliances which may be used nearby thereby increase the portability and usefulness of the grease collection system. Those skilled in the art will recognize that these alternative design features may be included in any combination thereof in the present invention.